Kennedy asks Massachusetts officials to change law on succession

WASHINGTON -- In one brief letter, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts underscored both the fragility of his own health and the Democratic consensus on health care.

On Tuesday, the ailing liberal icon wrote to his home state governor, Deval Patrick, and state legislative leaders, asking them to alter the method by which his successor in the Senate could be chosen.

Currently, Massachusetts law calls for a special election to be held once a Senate vacancy arises, a process that would take months. Kennedy urged the legislature to act to allow Patrick, a Democrat, to appoint an interim replacement until such an election could be held.

Kennedy, who is stricken with brain cancer, wrote that he believes "it is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election."

The health of the 77-year-old Kennedy has been the subject of rampant speculation in Washington. He has rarely been seen this year in the Capitol, even as the Senate has taken up one of his lifelong causes, a revision of the nation's health care system.

Last month, he failed to appear on the Senate floor to cast a vote on the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, during his daily press briefing, said President Barack Obama last spoke to Kennedy in June.

Kennedy's written request comes amid rising concerns in the Senate over the prospects of passing health care legislation this year. Currently, Democrats hold 58 seats in the chamber, and the body's two independents, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, vote with the caucus. That would appear to provide a filibuster-proof majority.

But along with Kennedy, the venerable West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd is also seriously ill, and frequently misses votes.

While Kennedy in his letter never explicitly mentions how a Senate vacancy in Massachusetts would occur and does not reference the health care debate, an interim appointee could be critical in any final health care vote on the floor in the event of Kennedy's death or resignation.

Kennedy's letter sparked a small row in his home state Wednesday. Republicans in the State House were highly critical of his proposal, noting that in 2004, Democrats in the legislature rammed through the measure that took away the governor's power to appoint an interim senator.

Then, Massachusetts' governor was Republican Mitt Romney, and state Democrats were concerned that should Sen. John Kerry win the presidency, Romney would be able to chose his successor.

"This is just a political, partisan consideration," said Bradley Jones, the Massachusetts House minority leader.

He conceded, however, that if Democrats, who hold a commanding grip on the State House, want to accede to Kennedy's wishes, they can change the law. "When the tanks get rolling, they're gonna roll over us if they want to do that," Jones said.

Ironically, Kennedy benefited from the former Massachusetts law. After his brother John won the presidency in 1960, a Kennedy family friend was appointed to keep the seat open until Kennedy was old enough to run for the vacancy in a special election in 1962. Kennedy has served in the Senate ever since.